Grand Canyon West is a poorly managed, disorganised tourist trap. We had to spend four hours in the park to look at the Canyon for 10 minutes.
The views are fantastic. Unfortunately, that is where the positives end. I could get over the $57 per head charge. As it is 2 hours closer to Vegas, but with all the waiting around it’s probably quicker to go to the South Rim which is a far cheaper and better organised site.
The needless buses and waiting around is painful. Why the car park is not situated walking distance from the Skywalk, defies all logical (but maybe not commercial) sense. Each unnecessary bus is a 30 minute wait. The bus route, despite passing the car park on the return journey, forces you to go 20 minutes further to the Zip Line. No one got off our bus to go on the Zip Line. So no one who had done the Zip Line could get on. I really felt for them and as they looked at us in despair whilst waiting in the 40c heat.
If you go to the West Rim, the Skywalk is impressive. But I wouldn’t plan a trip around it. After a 90 minute wait, you mainly looking down at the walls of the Canyon and the reflection of the sun. It’s not the Colorado River running below you if that’s what you have envisioned. The $17 is probably the only fair price in the place. But you can’t take photos and have to endure each tour group being forced to perform an invisible rollercoaster routine on the glass by the paid photographers.
What should have been a fantastic day, had a bitter taste and most people on our bus were complaining about their experience; which is a shame given the iconic location.
The feeling of supporting the Hualapai quickly wears off as they extort you for money at every opportunity. Ultimately, GCW trades off customer satisfaction for financial gain.
Go to the South Rim or suck up the cost of the helicopter ride.